Seeing Double
by Feebee-Weebee
Summary: COMPLETE! Reno meets Axel when he is stranded in Midgar. What happens when the two of them are forced to work together in order to let Axel escape? FFVII and KINGDOM HEARTS II
1. Chapter 1

"Hey Reno!" Elena chucked a polystyrene coffee cup at the dozing red-head, "Have you ever wandered what it would be like to have a twin?"

"You woke me up just for that ?" Reno was disgusted, "No, I haven't." He felt something trickle down his back, "And there was still coffee in there yo!"

"Sorry!" Elena said, over Rude's sniggers, "But honestly, have you ever thought about what it would be like to have a twin?"

"When I was a kid, what I mostly thought about was how I would get my next meal. I don't have time for imagination yo." Reno snuggled back down into his desk chair, and shut his eyes.

"I always wanted to have a twin," Elena interrupted his doze again, "Somebody to replace my older sister. It would be so cool to be mistaken for each other, wouldn't it though?"

There was a pause.

"You hear that silence Elena?" Reno yawned, "That would suggest that nobody cares, if you get my meaning."

"Oh fine then, grumpy," Elena turned her back on him, "What about you Rude?"

"I never really thought about it. I guess it would be cool," Rude shrugged, fiddling with the assortment of wire and dynamite on his desk, "Doesn't really bother me, to be honest."

"Maybe if it was a girl, and she was hot," Reno grinned.

"Urgh, you guys suck!" Elena threw her hands into the air in exasperation, "You never think about anything except food, girls, and sex!"

"So what?" Reno threw the coffee cup back at her.

"Dude," Rude's eyebrow raised under his glasses, "You would sleep with your own sister?"

"It was just a joke,"

"Gross though."

"You'd like to have a sister then Reno?" Elena pressed the conversation further, "Older or younger?"

"Huh?" Reno looked shocked, "I don't wanna have a sister," He thought for a moment, "I guess it would be quite fun to have a little brother though. I could teach him how to do stuff."

"Like what?" Both Elena and Rude were all agog now.

"I dunno," Reno shrugged, "How to stick up for himself, how to do good in life. All that traditional big brother crap."

The door to the private office next door opened, and Tseng came out.

"Hey Tseng, would you like to have a brother or sister?" Elena asked.

"I've never thought about it," He said, "But there's more important things going on right now. Something completely out of the way has happened."

"What?"

"A portal has appeared in the middle of Plate Four."


	2. Chapter 2

"This is the most unreal thing ever," Reno looked dumbfounded as he stared at the swirling black and green mist of the portal, "This is just totally unreal."

They had succeeded in clearing the area of the confused and excited onlookers. Once the SOLDIER had turned up, the crowded street had pretty much emptied.

"What does the President want _us_ to do?" Elena asked Tseng, "Shouldn't this be a job for Hojo or something? The science geeks?"

"I suppose the president wants this kept a secret," Tseng shrugged.

"This," Reno gestured to the portal, and the people pressed against the windows of their homes, "Is hardly secret."

"I agree," Rude frowned, "There's nothing we can do."

"What's it here for?" Elena reached out a hand, but Tseng blocked her.

"No touching. Could be dangerous."

"_Could_ be dangerous?" Reno was scowling, "Its bound to be dangerous yo. The last time anything popped out of the air it tried to kill everything!"

"What are we supposed to do though?" Elena shook her head, "Just stand here looking menacing?"

"I think that was what the president had in mind," Tseng stared at the portal, "In case anything comes through it."

"According to most of the witnesses, several black shapes did come out of it," Rude recalled the whispers from the people as he'd ushered them away, "And it looks like they haven't come back yet."

"Just great," Reno folded his arms, "If we haven't got enough to deal with at the moment, with AVALANCHE and shit, we now have to watch out of a load of black things."

"No need," Elena was staring at the road to the side of them, "Here they come now."

They spun round, just in time to see four or five black shapes come hurtling through the air towards them. They ducked, and felt the air rush over their heads, and then watched as the shapes disappeared through the portal. With a small flash, it vanished.

"What. The. Hell?" Reno said slowly, getting to his feet. Instantly, he was knocked down again, as another black shape shot past him. It froze as it realised the portal was gone, and fell sharply to the ground, revealing itself to be a cloaked figure, their hood pulled up over their face. The figure just stood staring at the space where the portal had been. And then-

"Typical."


	3. Chapter 3

"Stay still!" Tseng ordered, as they all pointed their guns at this being, "Where the hell did you come from?"

"Don't have a being," The figure said, in a lazy drawl that really reminded them of somebody, "So I don't exactly come from anywhere, right?"

"You're standing right in front of us!" Tseng snapped, "So obviously, you have a being. Stop playing games. You could be in a lot of trouble."

"Nobodies don't have beings," The stranger said, "And they don't have a heart neither. Sure, I may be standing here talking to you now, but in a way, I'm not really here."

"Turn around!" Tseng said sharply, "Now!"

"Sheesh, you're quite grumpy on this world, aren't you?" The stranger laughed as he (for the voice was definitely a male's) turned, "Then again, I guess you would be if some weird guy appeared out of nowhere and started talking to you about hearts." He did not remove his hood.

"Remove the hood!"

The stranger removed his hood.

Reno dropped his gun.

Elena dropped her gun.

Rude nearly dropped his gun.

Tseng blinked.

The stranger was so similar to Reno, they could have been twins. The stranger had the same spiky, blood red hair, although it was a lot shorter, and looked as if somebody could impale themselves on it. He had the same glittering green eyes, and pointed chin. He even had identical tattoos under his eyes, although his were directly under his eyes, and looked like little triangles. He even sounded like Reno, except his tone was a little deeper. Their laughs were identical.

"Whoa!" The stranger stared at Reno, "Do we know each other?"

"I don't think so," Reno was wide-eyed with shock.

"We've never seen you before," Elena said in a small voice.

"I wish I'd seen you before though," The stranger winked at her, "If I had a heart, I'm sure it would be making quite a noise right now."

Despite herself, Elena blushed and giggled.

Tseng scowled, and Reno retorted,

"Hey, I'm the ladies' man around here! You've copied my style, but you ain't copying anything else!"

"Reno, he's from another world," Elena muttered, "I don't think he's copying you."

"Oh yeah, spring to his defence," Reno snapped. He turned back to the stranger, "I'm Reno. Who are you?"

"Axel," Said the stranger, "Got it memorized?"


	4. Chapter 4

"I've got something memorized," Reno growled, rolling his sleeves up, "And it includes my fist and your face."

"Reno!" Elena cried, grabbing his arm as he dived towards the mysterious Axel, "I don't think he's a threat to us!"

"You just like him 'cause he said you were hot!" Reno struggled to prise himself from her grasp, "I'll teach that arrogant, cocky punk a lesson!"

"Dude," Rude leaned towards his friend, "You just totally described yourself there."

"Yo, don't you start to!" Reno pointed his finger aggressively and Rude. However, he was knocked sideways as Axel deliberately barged between the two of them, and approached Tseng.

"I guess you're the top dog here," He said, staring distastefully around Midgar, "Where the hell am I?"

"As something not of this world, I'm afraid I do not have the authority to tell you that," Tseng said firmly, "However, I'm sure if you co-operate, and come with us, some of your questions will be answered."

"You're so boring," Axel rolled his eyes, "Fine, whatever, I'll come with you. But seriously, don't try anything funny, or I'll just teleport myself out of here, got it?"

"Teleport?" Tseng frowned.

"Watch this," Axel stood a little way back from them, and he was surrounded suddenly by a strange black and green smog, similar to the one from the portal. It enveloped him, and they stared for a second, but the smog suddenly faded.

Axel still stood before them. He looked horrified, and stared around himself, as if this whole thing had been a joke.

"What the-?"

Reno snorted,

"Loser."

Axel rounded on him,

"Listen Reno, or whatever your name was, just because I seem to have lost some of my powers in this world doesn't mean I can't knock your ass from here to my world."

"Oh yeah?" Reno raised his mag-rod, "Why don't you come over here and try?"

Axel held his hands out, and they immediately burst into large flame spirals. He grinned, but the grin faded as fast as the flames, leaving his hands unharmed, but empty.

"Oh, of course," He laughed suddenly, "The moment the portal closed I lost all of my powers because they don't exist in this world." He kicked the air where the portal had been, "Thanks for nothing Organisation Thirteen! That's all I get for-" He was cut off as Reno whacked him hard round the head with the mag-rod.

"Reno!" This time, both Elena, Rude, and Tseng held him back, wrestling him to the floor, as Axel staggered backwards, and fell sideways.

"You've killed him!" Elena shrieked.

"Naw," Reno grinned down nastily at his new enemy, "But he'll be out for half an hour or so."

"Who is he?" Rude asked.

"He said he was called Axel, and that he was a Nobody or something," Reno nudged Axel with his foot, "And that he doesn't have a being." He kicked Axel's hand hard, "Hm. Well, that's a load of shit for starters. I'm kicking his being right now."

"Cut it out!" Tseng snapped. He bent down and lifted Axel's legs, "Rude, help me get him to the car. And Elena, see if you can calm Reno down."

Elena nodded, and turned to Reno.

"You were very nasty to him, Reno."

"Elena," Reno turned to look at her slowly, manically, "Tseng said calm me down."

"I know, but all I'm saying is, you could have been a little more polite, and not picked a fight with the slightest thing he said."

"What he said was a whole load of bullshit!"

"Not all of it," Elena blushed a little, "He said I was pretty."

"Exactly!"


	5. Chapter 5

"What the hell happened to your face?" Rude leapt to his feet as Reno slouched miserably into the office, sporting a massive red hand mark on his cheek.

"Nuthin'" He muttered, "Pub brawl."

At that moment, Elena stalked past him, her nose in the air. Reno flinched,

"Elena!" He cried, "You look gorgeous today, real stunning! Have you done something to your hair? Your hair is beautiful! Most beautiful hair I've seen in a long time!"

Elena turned, and caught Reno by the throat, lifting him right off the ground,

"Listen ass hole," She hissed, "That slap was just a warning. If you even breathe in my direction again, I'll find somewhere else on your anatomy to destroy!"

Rude sniggered.

"Yes ma'am," Reno's voice was quite a bit higher than usual. He squirmed a little, "Can you let me down now? I'm having difficulty breathing."

Elena let him drop. He massaged his throat, and then muttered,

"Bitch," Under his breath.

"You say something?" Elena spun round, fists raised.

"Nope," Reno struggled to his feet, and turned to Rude, "Any news on this Axel guy?"

"Nothing special," Rude checked through his emails, "We have to interview him this afternoon though."

Elena flushed slightly,

"When's the interview?" She asked casually.

"Half one. Why?"

"No reason."

She disappeared for the next couple of hours, and only reappeared whilst they were waiting outside the interview room. Reno stared at her,

"Elena, is that _make up_ you're wearing?"

"Your shirts a little bit lower than normal isn't it?" Rude noted. The two of them exchanged glances. Elena looked outraged,

"I'm no different than usual!" She snapped.

"Yeah you are," Reno grinned cheekily, "'Cause if you went around like that everyday, I would have slept with you by now. Twice."

He squealed as Elena slapped his other cheek. Before he could strangle her, Tseng appeared, with Axel handcuffed to him.

"Now there's a sight I never want to see again," Reno muttered to Rude, who almost retched.

"So," Tseng sat back in his chair once they were inside the interview room, "Your world. Tell us about it."

"Apart from the fact I help plague it with Nobodies, its not much better than this one," Axel cast his gaze over the room, "Except my one's a bit nicer. There isn't a lot of destruction lying around in the streets, and there's this thing there called vegetation, but apart from that, its nothing special."

"What are Nobodies?"

"They're the bodies of people who have no hearts. I think," Axel nodded in agreement with his own words, "Most of them just look like ghosts, but some of us have proper bodies and stuff."

"And these people are?"

"Organisation Thirteen. We control the Nobodies." Axel looked bored suddenly, "Listen, I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm kinda on a mission right now. I have all of twenty four hours to get back to where the organisation decided the emergency portal would be if any of us got left behind," He stood up sharply, "So I'm leaving!"

Reno pointed his mag-rod at Axel, the charge on it set to "kill",

"Sit down."

"You know something," Axel rubbed the back of his head where the lump was, "I really, really don't like you."

"Good, we agree on something," Reno scowled, "'Cause the feeling's mutual."

"You know, I can really see why the chick slapped you," Axel winked at Elena, who giggled and blushed, "I'd like to slap you some time!"

"Reno, you aren't helping the interview here," Tseng stood between them, "Go wait outside."

"No boss, this guy wants to get some stuff of his chest, let him do it." He turned back to Axel, "So go on. You've had it in for me the second we first met."

"Hey, you got it in for _me_!" Axel cried.

"You copied my style!"

"I did not! I'd never even met you until yesterday!"

"Whatever!"

"You're the biggest bullshitter!"

"No, _you_ are the biggest bullshitter!"

"RENO!" Tseng bellowed, "GET OUT NOW!!!!!"

The two arguers paused for a second, glaring at each other.

"I'm watching you, buddy," Reno snarled, and stormed out of the room.


	6. Chapter 6

Reno staggered backwards, his face white. Clutching his left arm, he collapsed onto the floor, groaning. Tseng stared at him coldly from over his desk.

"It's not _that_ bad," He said, irritated, "It's only a talk. I'm not asking you to become siamese twins with him or anything. A ten minute talk, that's it."

"Heart…heart…attack," Reno murmured, twitching on the floor.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Tseng stepped smartly over him, and held open the door, "Now, I have an extremely important meeting with the President, and I can't afford to miss it, even for your urgent medical condition."

Reno didn't move. Tseng sighed, and peered round the door,

"Rude? Would you-?" He pointed at the body on the floor.

"With pleasure," Rude got up from his desk, and dragged Reno out of the office by the foot, ignoring the protests. Elena looked up with interest,

"What happened to him?"

"Talk…talk…"

"Talk?" Elena probed, her voice changing as if she were speaking to somebody who couldn't quite understand her, "Who do you have to talk to, Reno?"

"H…Him!"


	7. Chapter 7

Axel slouched back against the cold metal wall, sitting on a metal slab. Every so often, he lifted his hand, and a small flicker of flame sparked for a second, before dying.

"Man oh man," He shook his head in disbelief, "This place is the pits!" He toyed with the silver clasps on his black cloak, "I gotta figure a way of getting outta here before this evening."

There were voices outside suddenly. He turned his head to listen.

"I'm NOT going in there!"

"Don't be such a baby!"

"I'm not scared of him, I just can't stand the guy!"

"Its only for ten minutes! Then, you don't ever have to speak to him again!"

"You're just too chicken."

"Wha-? Chicken? Me? I'll show you-"

The cell door was thrown open, and Axel's least favourite person in this world strode through, hands thrust into his pockets. The door swung shut behind him, and there was a long silence.

"Can I help you?" Axel lazily swung his legs over the side of the metal slab.

"Only by throwing yourself off a bridge," Was the blunt reply. Axel rolled his eyes,

"Well, unfortunately I forgot to bring my bridge. But seriously, what do you want?"

"My boss wants me to talk to you," Reno thrust his hands deeper into his pockets, "But personally, I'd rather just… I dunno… break your face or something."

An opportunity arose to Axel,

"So you'd do anything to get rid of me, huh?"

"Yes." Reno looked up sharply, "Yes I would, yo."

"Even if it meant disobeying some orders?"

"I don't follow orders!" Reno scowled at him, "I work for me, and for me alone! Nobody tells me what to do!"

"But still, you're in here talking to me?" Axel grinned and crossed his arms, "And you made the choice to do so yourself? Not because you were ordered to? I'm so FLATTERED!"

"Wha?" Reno was cornered, "No…I…I follow _some_ orders… I didn't _want_ to come here, its just Tseng…made…me," He trailed off and went as red as his hair as Axel burst into tears of laughter,

"Ooh, I forgot, of course, if _Tseng_ made you do it!"

"Shut up!" Reno clenched his fists, and dithered, wondering whether it would be worth his effort to hit the guy, "What is it that you want?"

"I want outta here."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Listen," Axel decided to play it cool, "I work for these guys known as Organisation Thirteen. In fact, I do better than that. I am _in _Organisation Thirteen. What we want is to find a way of getting our hearts back. I'm not quite sure how the superior plans to do it, but he lets nothing get in our way. We're searching for something known as Kingdom Hearts. So, we found a way of opening a portal into different worlds and universes, so that we could search quickly. We were searching your world. I got left behind. At sometime between nine o' clock and midnight tonight, a portal is gonna open in a safety area we planned, just in case one of us got left behind. If I miss that portal, not only am I gonna be stuck here, I'm also gonna be on your hands for a very long time."

"And getting this portal in time is important to you, right?"

"Yes."

"I see," Reno began to pace up and down. He paused, "Well, if it's _that_ important to you, I guess I'd better say…kiss my ass."

"I'm not gonna beg you, if that's what you want," Axel eyes narrowed, "You got no chance of that. Fine," He turned his back, "I guess I'd better get used to staying here."

"Yeah, you should."

"Okay then, I will," Axel turned round suddenly, "What's the name of that chick you work with?"

"Huh?"

"The blonde one. She's hot. What's here name. It slipped her mind."

"You…" Reno clenched his fists again, and advanced on Axel, "She's ours! You can't just come barging into this world, and take all our chicks for yourself."

"What's her number?" Axel pressed.

"FINE!" Reno exploded, "I'LL GET YOU OUTTA HERE, JUST STOP TALKING LIKE THAT!" Furious, he stomped towards the cell door, and peered out, "Nobodies' here; it's the lunch break." He peered Axel up and down, "You can't walk around here dressed like that. You'll get noticed."

"Well if I go naked, I'll get noticed even more," Axel replied coolly, "Come here. I have a plan."


	8. Chapter 8

The security guard slouched miserably in his chair, eyeing the clock that hung lazily on the wall of his office. Only ten more minutes before he came off duty for the night. He shifted uncomfortably on the chair. You'd think, working for a massive international company, there might be a little action, but no, this was the fourth month running he'd had absolutely nothing to do. It wasn't even as if he could secretly waltz around his office pretending to be a Turk; as far as he knew, three of them were out on a mission, and the other one was nowhere to be seen.

A massive crash sent him leaping out of his seat. Diving for the door, tripping over everything, he emerged out into the main lobby, just in time to see two men, one of them the other Turk, Reno or something, get knocked ten feet across the floor by the other, who looked quite like him. He reached for his gun, but Reno held up his hand, wiping a trickle of blood from his lip.

"Nothing to see here! Get back to work!"

"Um, are you sure sir?" The security watched as Reno flung the second guy against the wall, "Should I not call for back up?"

"I can handle this!" The other guy kicked Reno hard in the groin, and bolted for the door. Reno rolled over on the floor, and groaned, but then jumped to his feet, and made to follow him, "Don't worry! I'll have him back in a moment!"

"Are you quite sure you don't need any assistance sir?" The security guard asked helplessly, "Who was he?"

"He's a druggie we've had in the cells for a while," Reno paused at the door momentarily, "And I don't need any assistance, once the steroids have worn off I should be able to catch him pretty quick." On his way out, he paused again, "And there's no need for this to go in the book. It's a Turk matter. Secret, okay?"

"Yes sir," The guard stared after him, bemused.

Reno ran out of the door, down the marble steps, and pretended to search around for Axel, before sprinting to the right, until he was out of sight from the lobby. He caught sight of him, leaning against a wall, and then the two of them burst into howls of laughter.

"As if that guy just let it go!" Axel was almost weeping, "Man oh man, what a laugh!"

"That was so easy!" A scowl formed itself on Reno's face suddenly, as he touched his swollen lip, "You actually didn't have to actually punch me in the face. Or kick me."

"Well, I did try to avoid your face," Axel smirked, "But the opportunity was too good to miss. I could argue that you didn't have to fling me against the wall. There's a lump on my head as big as if the keyblade hit it."

"That opportunity was also too good to miss," Reno grinned, "And what's a "keyblade", yo?"

"Nothing, it's a weapon in my world," Axel looked suddenly quite unhappy, "Speaking of which, I need to find that portal. Its just down the road from here. There's still a couple of minutes until it appears."

They began to make their way down the road, avoiding each other's eyes.

"You know, you don't actually have to follow me," Axel stared at Reno in annoyance, "I'm a big boy now. I don't need to be babysat."

"You don't actually think I trust you?" Reno laughed, "How do I know you're not just gonna run off and do something to cause trouble?"

"Organization Thirteen do not "cause trouble"," Axel looked disgruntled, "All we're trying to do is find a way to get our hearts back."

"How do you even survive without a heart? You can't. You're just telling some shit story to get out of here."

"See if you can feel a heartbeat then," Axel snapped, and thrust his chest out. Reno leapt backwards in alarm,

"Wha-? Do I look gay to you?"

"I'm just proving that I'm not lying. And yes, you do."

"Well there's nothing wrong with gay people, so stop insulting them!" Reno stuck his nose in the air.

"But you just-!"

"What are you, homophobic? You disgust me!"

"I haven't got a problem with-!" Axel grinned suddenly, "Well, well, I seem to have hit a sore spot."

"What? I'm not gay!"

"Nah, I'm just kidding with ya," Axel thrust his black gloved hands into his pockets, "But seriously, I don't have a heart. I can't remember why, or how. It just happened. And I want it back. We were searching this world for Kingdom Hearts, but there's no trace."

"There's only Mako energy here," Reno indicated the busy street, "And materia and stuff. Can you not just get a heart transplant?"

"No, it wouldn't work."

"Have you even tried?"

"We've tried everything else. This is our last chance."

They walked in silence for the rest of the journey.


	9. Chapter 9

When they arrived down the deserted alleyway, the portal was already there, a sphere of revolving green and black fog.

"I am out of here!" Axel punched the air, "I've missed all my powers!"

"So this is a portal that leads into your world?" Reno reached out a hand and let the mist curl round his fingers, "A freakin' hole in the air?"

"These babies can save your life back in my world," Axel flicked his gaze up and down the portal, "Quicker than those weirdo chocobos you guys ride." He looked sideways at Reno suddenly, "Listen, how much trouble will you get into for helping me out?"

"On a scale of one to ten?"

"If you like."

"Eleven."

"They won't kill you or anything?" Axel actually looked concerned, "Damn, I couldn't walk around with _that_ on my conscience. Not that I actually have a conscience."

"I dunno what they'll do," Reno shivered at the prospects, "Just get outta here before they come looking. If I get back quick enough, I might be able to say I had nothing to do with it. I could tell that security guy that you knocked me out and vanished."

Axel walked forwards, until he was almost into the portal, and then he turned,

"You didn't turn out to be so bad in the end," He grinned, "I'll tell Roxas and the others about you and your guys. I might not mention Elena to Larxene though…"

Reno laughed,

"Enough of the dramatic goodbyes already! Piss off!"

"Fine, I'm going," Axel laughed with him, "I'm gonna remember you though."

"I'll try and remember you too."

Axel pointed at his face,

"Got it memorized?"

"Yeah."

"Then maybe I'll see you around," Axel turned, and disappeared into the portal. It shuddered for a moment, and then vanished. Reno stood staring at the spot where it had been.

"You still copied my style, yo."


	10. Chapter 10

giggles don't worry, there's more to come. Thank you for all the totally nice reviews 3, and also for the spelling corrections ORGANIZATION NOT ORGANISATION!!!!

"I can't believe this," Tseng sat with his head in his hands, "I absolutely refuse to believe this." He banged his hands down onto the desk suddenly, "What were you _thinking_?" He bellowed at the uncomfortable looking red head, who stood opposite from him, "Have you lost your mind? You could be terminated for this! And I mean _properly_ terminated. With a gun."

"Tseng, I'm sorry!" Reno spread his hands wide, "The bastard whacked me round the back of the head and escaped! I couldn't do anything to stop him!"

"Don't give me that shit, Reno!" Tseng roared, his face growing redder by the minute, "I don't believe you for one second. There is no sign of your being hit in any way, except for that split lip, and the security guard down in the lobby said he saw you fighting the guy! I know how you operate, you complete arse hole, I know you helped him escape!"

"Fine then!" Reno scowled, and crossed his arms, "Fucking fine. Yeah, I helped him escape. But think about it, Tseng. At least he's not flirting with Elena any more."

"Get out of my sight," Tseng snapped, "And don't expect to remain a Turk for very long, once I tell the President."

Reno gulped,

"The…the President?"

"Yes," Tseng stood up sharply, and gestured to the door, "Now get out. NOW!"

Reno turned, and trailed unhappily towards the door. As he opened it, there was a squeal, and Elena and Rude toppled over onto the floor.

"We were checking the…doorknob!" Elena cried quickly.

"Of course you were," Reno stepped over them, and sat miserably down at his desk, "I guess you heard all of that."

"Kinda," Elena looked a little ashamed, and sat down on Reno's desk, "They can't throw you out, Reno!"

"Oh, they can," Reno's head dropped onto the desk, "And they will. The President is a pretty bad guy to annoy." He sat up suddenly, "What the hell am I gonna do? There's no way I'm going back to the slums!"

"Reno, don't you understand?" Rude shook his head, "You might be terminated! Shinra doesn't do failure, and they like betrayal even less! You could be shot for being a traitor to the company." Rude faltered, and stared at Elena, "One of us will be ordered to do it."

"What are you going to do?" Elena asked desperately.

"Wait," Reno nodded to reassure himself, "I'll wait it out. If I get fired, I'll get the hell outta Midgar. If they let me stay…then…well…I'll stay put."

"I wouldn't bet on it," Rude muttered quietly.

"Yeah, and if Rude and I help you…" Elena trailed off.

"You'd be in about as good a position as I am right now," Reno finished the sentence for her, "I'm not asking you guys to help me."

"I'm sure Tseng wouldn't tell the President," Elena tried another route, "I mean, he's done it before, to protect his old boss. I'm sure he'd do the same for you."

"Nah, he'll do his job. That's what he does. And he's pretty mad at me right now," Reno kicked the desk suddenly, "I should never have let that bastard escape!"

"Why did you do it though?" Rude shook his head, "One minute you're knocking chunks off each other, the next you're breaking him out of cells. What gives?"

"You know something?" Reno sighed, "I really don't know."


	11. Chapter 11

The letter was already stuck to his door when he got back. He'd spent the last couple of hours at the pub, drowning his sorrows. He opened the letter. He scanned through to the last line.

""We are sorry to inform you that such behaviour has resulted in your instant removal from the company." Yeah, I thought so," He screwed the letter up, and threw it as hard as he could, and held out his hand to open the door. As he did so, he heard a quiet whisper on the other side.

"Takes his time, doesn't he?"

"Have you ever terminated a Turk before?"

"This is my first termination full stop."

"This'll be fun then."

For a moment, Reno just stood there, his mouth hanging open. They'd sent a couple of SOLDIER grunts to finish_ him_ off? That was almost an insult to his abilities. Well, nobody was going to assassinate him anytime soon. He turned on his heel, and strode straight back down the stairs to the lobby of the apartment block. He had to get out of Midgar fast. To Kalm… to Junon… anywhere.

Not wanting to waste time, he jumped the last few steps, but he landed wrong, and twisted his ankle.

"Shit, shit, shit." He looked up, "Shit."

Standing in front of him were Tseng, Rude, and Elena. They each held a gun. Neither of them looked happy.

"We're sorry, Reno," Tseng looked unhappy, "That it has to be like this. The President ordered your immediate termination from the company."

"We tried to make him change his mind," Elena said quickly, "But he wouldn't budge. He said that you were a traitor, and you deserved to be dealt with like a traitor."

Reno suddenly became aware of the open fuse box to his right. He changed the mode on the EMR to "kill".

"Well, I'm sorry guys," He held up his hands, "I know this isn't your fault."

"Reno," Tseng lifted his gun, "Drop the weapon."

"But you see, I have no intention of "coming quietly" as you might say."

"Reno, please," Elena was close to tears, "Don't make this any harder for us."

"Then I'll make it easier,"

He plunged the EMR has hard as he could into the fuse box. There was a seconds pause, and then they were in complete darkness. The bullets began to whistle around him, and he dropped to the floor.

"Reno!" Rude bellowed, "Give it up!"

Biting his tongue hard, he crawled in the direction of the door. He missed Tseng's leg by about an inch, and slipped through the gap in the half open door.

"I may be retreating, but I am still victorious, yo."

And he ran.

As he crossed the road, he heard Tseng's angry yell, and the footsteps as they blundered out of the building. He knew he could outrun Tseng and Elena, but Rude…

And sure enough….

"Rude, Elena and I will cut him off with the car. You follow him not matter where he goes!"

"Shit," Reno gritted his teeth and sped up even more. He could hear Rude some way behind him, and knew he had a gun. He wasn't the best of shots, but…

Suddenly, for no reason, he knew where he was going. The Alleyway. He didn't know why. It was crazy to actually think the portal would be there. There was no way in all the world. But he had this feeling.

He had no idea when Tseng and Elena would pop up, but Rude was still close behind him,

"Give it up, Reno!" He yelled again, "They'll catch you in the end!"

"It's not over until the fat lady sings!" Reno called over his shoulder, "And Elena is nowhere in sight!"

Despite himself, Rude laughed,

"You were always the hilarious one."

The alleyway was in sight now, but a stitch in his gut was starting to scream, and he had twisted his ankle when he had jumped the last bit of stairs. His eyes watering with the pain, he pressed on.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Tseng's car was in front of him, blocking his path. He ran straight into it, and somersaulted off the bonnet into the opening of the alleyway. His head slammed onto the concrete pavement, and he tasted blood. His vision blurred. He heard the car doors open, and Rude's footsteps as he arrived at the scene.

"Elena," The bald Turk said, a hint of a grin in his tone, "Would you hum something for us?"

"This is hardly the time!" She was hysterical.

"Please?"

Elena sighed angrily, and began to hum some random tune.

"Now is it over, Reno?" Rude loaded his gun, and pushed his sunglasses further up his nose. From his daze, Reno heard Tseng step towards him. Then-

"What the hell is that?" Elena cried.

Reno turned his neck painfully to face the end of the alleyway. His heart began to pound even faster. It couldn't be…

The portal shimmered before them, quite literally, a miracle. There was a silence. He turned to face his old companions,

"You know something? That fat lady we were talking about? She just stopped singing." And he kicked out at Tseng as hard as he could, catching the Wutain in the groin. Tseng sank to the floor, and Reno scrambled to his feet. As he ran towards the portal he could see a figure materialising from it. The bullets began to fly past him again. He yelled as one got him in the shoulder, but collided with the mysterious person as they emerged from the portal, pushing them straight back inside, taking him with them. There was a moment of darkness, and then a silence. He had crashed to the floor, the other person still under him.

"I thought you said you weren't gay?"


	12. Chapter 12

OH. MY. GOD!!!!! I AM SO SO SO SORRY ABOUT, LIKE, THE 8 MONTH DELAY!!!!!! MY COMPUTER TOTALLY WENT BUST ON ME, AND I HAVE ONLY JUST GOT THE INTERNET BACK!!!!! I HAVE TOTALLY FORGOTTEN WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN IN THE STORY, BUT I WILL TRY AND REMEMBER!!! (I have started doing English language at A-level now, so hopefully the story will be a bit better .)

For a long time, Reno said nothing. He lay with his face pressed hard into the person's chest, breathing hard. What the hell had just happened? Had Tseng, Rude, and Elena, his greatest friends in the whole world _really_ just tried to kill him? Had he _really_ just run halfway across Midgar with the three of them on his tail?... Wow... that kind of defined...crap.

"Excuse me?" The person underneath him said, somewhat grumpily, "Much as I enjoyed our previous meeting, I really don't feel that our relationship has developed enough to be engaging in this kind of contact. What I'm really trying to say is; I like you and everything, but I'm just not interested."

"Wha-" Reno's insides boiled, "What the hell are you talking about you... you..." His eyes widened, "YOU!"

Axel grinned up at him,

"Yo."

Reno scowled, his fists clenched,

"You stole my line, you... you _line stealer_! Wait!" His insides suddenly boiled, "YOU JUST GOT ME FIRED!" And he punched Axel as hard as he could. Axel's nose exploded with blood, but that didn't stop him from grabbing Reno's ponytail and yanking down hard on it. Reno shrieked, and rolled over, taking Axel with him. He managed to thrust his knee upwards, driving it straight into the Nobody's stomach. Axel groaned, and scratched down Reno's face, pounding the side of his head with his elbow. Suddenly-

"YEEOW!" Reno howled, and leapt to his feet, slapping his burning sleeve, "What the fucking hell was that, you freak?"

Axel stood up, grinning through the blood that was trickling down his face,

"You're in my world now. This time, _you_'re the loser, loser."

"I'm _where_?" Reno stared at Axel as if he was tapped, "Are you insane? Are you on drugs? Is that what keeps your hair up? We're in Midgar, stupid-" He broke off, and stared at his whereabouts.

He was in a massive, white, circular room, which only seemed to have thirteen giant thrones in it. He and Axel were standing in the middle of them, on a floor so white it was blinding him. All the thrones were occupied by people in black cloaks, identical to the one Axel was wearing. Some of them had their hoods up, others were down, but they were all obviously staring straight at him."

"Er...hi?" He waggled his fingers at them.

"Axel!" Somebody with their hood up said in a deep voice, "What is the meaning of this?"

"Xemnas," Axel pointed at Reno, "This is the guy who helped me out when I got stuck back in that other world."

"Xemnas?" Reno frowned, he paused for a minute, and then burst into howls of uncontrollable laughter, "Dude, your name is an anagram of Man Sex! What kind of creepy group are you?"

"What the hell are you playing at?" Axel hissed, "Are you trying to get yourself killed or something? He's the boss, like your President."

"Ah," Reno calmed down pretty quickly, "Er... sorry about that, Mr Xemnas, Sir."

"Indeed," Xemnas said, his voice emotionless.

There was suddenly a high pitched giggle from above. A woman, with her head down, was staring straight at Reno. She had blonde hair, with two oddly shaped bangs sticking out from her head.

"He's _cute_!" She laughed, her hand over her mouth. Reno instantly gave her one of his award-winning "lazy smirks" and winked.

"Yo, Babe. What's your name?"

Axel elbowed him in the stomach,

"Hey!" He snarled, "She's ours! You can't just come barging into this world, and take all our chicks for yourself."

Reno had heard this somewhere before. He grinned nastily, and turned to Axel,

"What's her number?"

"STOP TALKING LIKE THAT!" Axel put his hands over his ears, "Why are you here anyway? One moment I'm going back to your place to take a sample of Mako energy, and the next you're frenching my chest in this world!"

"Enough of this," Another voice sighed in a gruff, well-pronounced voice, removing their hood to reveal a man with massive black dreadlocks and sideburns, "Would the two of you stop making such an embarrassing scene. If I knew the emotion, I'd be angry."

"Xaldin," The woman leaned back in her throne and shook her head at him, "Would you shut up about the whole "I have no emotions" thing? We know, okay?" She turned to Reno, and batted her eyelids, "I'm Larxene," She paused slightly, "At your service."

Reno made a high-pitched sound in his throat, and turned to Axel,

"Please, I'm begging you, swap her with Elena!"

"Who's Elena?" Larxene snapped at Axel.

"Thanks, ass," Axel muttered under his breath, "Now I'll be spending the entire evening explaining who Elena was to her. Man oh man, she's not even my girlfriend or anything."

"If it makes things harder for you, then I'm glad to help," Reno muttered back, digging him in the ribs. Axel nudged him back.

"So you are Reno," Xemnas, who had not removed his hood, said quietly, "It seems Number Eight is in your debt."

"Are you kidding?" Axel gasped, "I'm not in-"

"SILENCE!" Xemnas roared, "Axel, you will accompany this man during his stay here."

"There's really no need!" Reno said quickly, just as Axel cried,

"I'm sure he doesn't need me!"

"SILENCE!" Xemnas seemed to be fond of this word, "Maybe he can be used to our advantage. Would you help us, Reno, if we asked for it?"

"Er..." Reno thought about it. There was no way he'd be able to go back to Midgar any time soon. Why not? All these people wanted was their hearts back. What was so wrong with that? "Sure thing," He said, "I'll help you."

"Excellent," Xemnas sounded pleased, although, if he had no emotions, this was probably untrue, "Axel, take him to Oblivion."

"What the hell?" Reno's eyes widened, ""Oblivion?" Where's that! I don't wanna go to Oblivion!"

"Shut up!" Axel grabbed him by the remains of his sleeve, and dragged him towards a door Reno hadn't seen, "It's the name of our castle. Don't be so lame!"

As they left, Reno snickered, and said,

"Hey, Axel! How come you're only number eight?"


	13. Chapter 13

"Sooo," Reno followed Axel, his hands thrust in his pockets, "What are we going to do today?"

"Stop following me."

"Come on, man, I've been here for three days now, and all I've done is go round this castle with you. Let's do something."

"I said, stop following me!"

"Is there nowhere to go? Do you just hang out and float around in this big chunk of computer generated Lego? Come on, what do you do?"

Axel spun round. There were bags under his eyes, and he looked pale and drawn,

"Please," He begged hoarsely, "For just ONE minute, will you stop following me? You're everywhere. You're like a nasty disease. You. Never. Go. Away ," He shuddered, "Why did I ever think this could work?" He began to walk again.

Reno skipped at his side,

"Aww, don't be so emotional. It can't be that bad, seeing as you can't feel stuff, right?"

"I can feel YOU!"

"Whoa!" Reno backed off, his hands out in front of him, "You're not feeling me anywhere, you creep!"

"Arrgh!" Axel clutched the sides of his head in exasperation, "That's not what I meant. Geez," He shivered slightly, "Why are you so... so..."

"Good looking?" Reno winked at him, "Dashing? Charming? So much better with the ladies than you?"

Axel was silent for a moment. Reno smelled burning,

"What? Where's that coming from?" He turned round. There was nothing, "Axel... what are you... OH FUCK!" He began to whirl in a circle, trying to catch hold of his blazing ponytail, "SHIT...BOLLOCKS...CRAP...MOTHER OF-" He managed to smother it with his hands, but it was too late. It was pretty much burnt away. He stared at Axel, tears welling in his eyes, "Dude... it took me six years to grow that. That was harsh."

Axel grinned psychotically at him,

"I didn't realise you were so touchy about your hair," He put on a high pitched voice, "Ooh, I'm so sorry, darling, do you want me to brush it for you?"

Reno's head was bowed, tears dripping onto the floor,

"My mom always said she wanted me to grow my hair long. When she died, I swore to let it grow. My ponytail was for her, man!"

"Aw, crap," Axel stared at his feet, looking almost as if he were ashamed, "Listen, sorry, dude, I went too far. I didn't realise. That was very ass-holeish of me." He looked up, Reno was still crying. He stepped towards him, "Look, come on, it'll grow ba-"

Reno punched him to the ground, and started laughing,

"Congratulations, you've been Reno'd!"

"What?" Axel stared up at him, a large lump appearing on his cheek. Reno grinned down at him, his arms folded behind his head,

"Relax," He yawned, "I just wanted to freak you out. It's just hair, right? But..." He squatted down, so his face was level with Axel's as he struggled to sit up, "I want even. You have to cut off one of your spikes. Eye for an eye, you know?"

"Can't I just promise never to burn your ponytail again?" Axel asked.

Reno shook his head,

"Nope. Don't such a lame-ass, me and Rude used to do it all the time. If you do, I'll never annoy you again."

Axel's face brightened,

"Really?"

"I swear on all the chunks of Rude's hair he ever cut off."

"It's a deal!" Axel jumped to his feet enthusiastically, and set one of his spikes alight. Reno waited until it had frazzled to a mere stump of fuzz, and then began to howl with laughter.

"Oh, God, what is it?" Axel's eyes widened as the Turk sank to the floor, clutching his sides. Reno stared helplessly up at him, his cheeks aching,

"Dude, Rude is bald. He was bald before I met him. He never cut off a chunk of his hair in his life."

Axel's fists clenched,

"So there was nothing to swear by?"

"Nope!"

"Meaning, you're still going to annoy me?"

"Yup!"

"Which also means I burnt my hair for nothing?"

"Yup!" Reno's face looked like it was having a spasm.

"I..." Axel's face looked like it was having a breakdown, "Am... going... to...kill...you!" And he advanced towards Reno, his arms outstretched. The laughter abruptly fell from Reno's face, and he began to scramble backwards,

"Listen, it was just a joke! Eye for an eye, remember?"

"You're right," Axel paused momentarily, but began to move forwards again, "So I'll have one of your eyes for making me think I'd upset you, and the other eye for what you made me do to my hair."

"I think I'll pass, to be honest," Reno managed to get to his feet, so he could back away quicker, "In fact, I might just go to my room."

"You're not going anywhere!" Axel's chakram had appeared in his hands, and there was fire blazing out of them. He began to laugh slowly.

"OH MY GOD!" Reno yelled, "YOU'RE CRAZY!" He turned to bolt down the hallway, but ran into someone. Behind him, Axel calmed down very quickly,

"Oh, hi... Xemnas...I wasn't trying to kill him!"

"Hah, "Man Sex"" Reno snorted under his breath.

"Indeed," Xemnas scowled at the two of them, "I was just coming to find you, Number Eight."

"Hey, hey Axel," Reno turned to the Nobody, "If you're Number Eight, can I be Number Two?" He dug him in the ribs, "Geddit? Number T-" He saw the look on Xemnas's face, and trailed off.

"As I was saying," Xemnas continued, addressing Axel, "I want you to carry on with the mission I was about to send you on the day this fool showed up. Maybe he," And he nodded towards Reno, "Can help you." He brushed past them, and muttered in Axel's ear, "Try and lose him somewhere. I can't have people remained about my name."

"Got it," Axel smirked, and turned to Reno, "Hey, forget earlier. We're taking a trip back to your world."


	14. Chapter 14

Okay... I went kind of over the top with this chapter, so I think it would be relevant to just say that I do not own any of the characters who appear in this chapter, Masashi Kishimoto does. Hope you enjoy :)

"Are you sure this is a sensible thing to do?" Reno flattened himself nervously against a wall as a group of mothers with pushchairs passed the entrance to the alleyway, "I mean... we could seriously die from this."

Axel snorted, leaning casually against the wall beside his temporary "partner",

"Relax. For all they know, you're lying dead in another dimension. I never realised you were so jumpy. Maybe you should consider paranoia therapy? I hear the results have been very successful."

"I think your face should get paranoia therapy," Reno grunted, relaxing a little anyway, "But what if we run into Tseng, Rude, and Elena? And why are we here anyway? What mission did "Man Sex" send you on?"

"Do you remember when you mentioned Mako to me?" Axel asked.

Reno's face was blank,

"Er...no."

Axel sighed, and folded his arms,

"Well, you did. Anyway, Xemnas asked me to fetch a sample of it to see if it would be successful in powering up our Kingdom Hearts. He figured that it might work better than some of the other stuff we've been trying."

"And why do you need me for that?"

Axel stared at him scathingly,

"Well I don't know where to get it from, do I, genius?"

Reno thought for a minute,

"The best sample of Mako is probably Materia," He said slowly, "That's crystallised Mako. This freaky bunch of Eco-Terrorists called AVALANCHE uses them a lot. They sell them all over the place in the slums. They give weapons special powers, but when it's convenient, they give people special powers too."

"That sounds fine," Axel nodded, a grin slowly spreading across his face, "So where can I get this Materia?"

"Are you serious?" Reno stared at him, "I just told you. _They sell them all over the place in the slums_. Got it memorized?" He slammed his hand over his mouth.

Axel froze,

"What did you just say?"

"I said..." Reno thought quickly, "I said... "Get some memory pies." That's what I said."

""Get some memory pies?"" Axel repeated, "For a second I thought you said-"

"Got it memorized?" Reno jumped in, "No, no I didn't!"

"Well...that's okay then, yo."

"Did you just steal _my_ line too?"

"HA!" Axel pointed at him, "So you DID steal my line!"

"Er..." Reno hopped from one foot to the other, thinking fast, "No, "Yo" isn't my line. My line is... Believe it!"

At that moment, a wierd little boy in an orange tracksuit ran down the alleyway, and kicked Reno hard in the crotch,

"Hey, that's my line, believe it!" And he ran off again.

"What was that all about?" Axel asked, dumbstruck.

"I don't know," Reno got to his feet, groaning, "But this is such a drag."

Another boy appeared. He had a random brown topknot in his hair, and he looked like he'd been asleep. He too kicked Reno in the crotch, and scowled,

"Don't be such a drag, that's my line!" And also ran off.

"This is getting a bit strange," Axel stared down at Reno as he struggled to his feet a second time. He spotted something lying in one of the trashcans that lined the alley, and lifted it out. It was an orange book, entitled "Make-Out Paradise", "What's this?" He flicked through it, and raised an eyebrow, "This sucks."

There suddenly came a sound of running footsteps, and a third person entered the alley. This guy had strange silver hair that stuck up randomly, and he wore a mask over the lower half of his face. He advanced towards Axel. The Nobody waved his hands,

"Wait, WAIT! What the _hell_ is going on here? Who _are_ all these people?"

The silver-haired man rubbed the back of his head,

"Don't ask me. I only know everything when it's convenient."

Reno managed to get to his feet,

"What's with the mask?"

The newcomer shook his head,

"Nobody knows...nobody knows," He went to run again, "Oh, almost forgot-" He made a wierd hand sign, and electricity began to explode out of his hand. Turning to Axel, he plunged the electrified hand into the Nobody's crotch, "Make-Out Paradise _rocks_!" And he ran off.

Reno stared down at Axel,

"What just happened there?"

Axel shrugged from where he lay on the ground,

"I'm not quite sure," He got to his feet, "That wasn't so bad, actually." He changed the subject quickly, "So, if I go to the slums, I can get my hands on some of this Materia stuff, right?"

"Right," Reno nodded, "I'll take you to one of the places that sells it. The guy knows me, so we might get away without paying. Still," He rattled around in his pocket, "I think I have enough for just one."

Axel looked back towards the portal,

"Should I just leave it there?"

"Yeah, nobody usually comes down here."

"Except those three guys."

"Yeah, except them, but I think the portal thingy should be safe."

They walked out of the alley and into the street. Reno kept looking over his shoulder, and jumping every time a car-horn beeped. Axel moved coolly by his side, staring straight ahead,

"Damn, I look so much better than you."

"Only because you don't have to worry about being shot," Reno replied acidly, squeaking with fright as a child on the opposite side of the road dropped an ice cream and started crying.

"Are saying I look good?" Axel moved away from him, "How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not interested, okay?"

"And how many times do I have to tell you I'm not gay?"

"But you are though."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not... your face is gay though."

"No it's not!"

"No it's not!"

"What are you doing?"

"What are you doing?"

"Stop that!"

"Stop that!"

"I'm gay."

"Good for you."

"Damn!" Axel clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, "That was a good one."

"Thanks," Reno grinned, "You have to be quick witted, working for Shinra. You never know when you might get used for something nasty. You need to know how to get out of stuff."

"You mistake me for somebody who gives a shit."

"You should give a shit," Reno said reasonably, "You're the one -this way- who got me into this mess in the first place." He stopped as he noticed Axel had stopped moving. They had just entered the first part of the slums. The streets were running with filth and slime, and people were sitting in huddled groups, muttering amongst each other, "What's with you?"

"Wow," Axel's nose was wrinkled, "What a dump. Do people really live here?"

"Yeah," Reno shoved his hands into his pockets as they began to walk again, "I was born here, you know?"

"Really?" Axel looked shocked, "Why does everyone walk round in groups all the time?"

"Because if you don't, you'll have been mugged four times before you've even finished finding something to keep your door shut with."

"Nice," Axel looked disgusted, "So, is this Materia place close?"

"Close enough," Reno's hand was inches away from his gun. They walked in silence for a little longer.

Axel felt a hand on his shoulder. He spun round. A young man with a knife was standing dangerously close, eyeing the silver clasp that tied his black coat together.

"Can I help you?" He asked nervously, staring at the knife.

"Gimme the silver thing."

Axel scowled,

"No way! Go and find your own silver thing."

The man waved the knife under his nose,

"I want _that_ silver thing!"

"You're not having it!"

"Er... Axel?" Reno hissed, "You do know he's got a knife, right? They kind of hurt."

"He's not gonna attack me," Axel laughed, but at that moment, the man lunged forwards. Axel stumbled backwards, and there was a gunshot. The man fell dead, his knife inches away from Axel's skull.

"What the-?" Reno spun round. Standing behind him, the barrel of her gun smoking was Elena. She began to walk forwards, her gun pointed directly between his eyes.


	15. Chapter 15

Reno felt as though all time had frozen around him. He felt as if he had been paralysed. The swallow of that last gasp remained in his throat, the last breath held in his lungs. He wasn't aware of anything; only the tiny circular barrel of the small silver gun coming closer and closer and closer. Would it hurt? Would it be quick? He realised that he wasn't shaking with fear. The thought comforted him. At least if he was going to die, he wouldn't die a coward. People always used to say the Turks were cowards, working only for themselves. They didn't understand the intensity of the work they did, what it felt like to stand motionless over the body of an innocent person, having to do whatever you must to achieve your goal. He had never thought about this until now. It was amazing how many things could go through your mind when you were about to die. Elena was close now, so close he could almost count the number of eyelashes she had...she had a lot of eyelashes.

"You have a lot of eyelashes," He murmured. Elena frowned,

"I beg your pardon?"

"Eyelashes... you have a lot of them."

She scowled, taking a step backwards warily,

"Are you coming onto me?"

He jumped, and shook his head,

"What? Eww, no, sorry."

She scowled harder, and placed her hands on her hips,

"What do you mean "Eww no"? Are you saying I'm not cute?"

"Way to go, Reno," Axel muttered behind him, "Way to go to slap a girl in the face."

"Sorry," He said again, "Please continue with what you were about to do. Please make it quick."

The scowl fell from Elena's face as she stared at the gun in her hand, and was replaced with a look of uncomfortable misery,

"Oh, yeah. Sure." She aimed it at his head again, and he waited. He wanted to close his eyes, but he didn't want to go down like he was afraid. He waited.

_CRACK!!!_

"SHIT!" He clutched the side of his head and sank to his knees, his consciousness wavering. Elena stood over him, and Axel held his sides as he tried not to die from laughing. Reno rubbed the side of his head, wincing as his fingers connected with the quickly sprouting lump, which was roughly the size of an egg already,

"What was that for?" He gasped, his eyes watering, "You could have just shot me you cold-hearted bitch! Geez," He felt a small trickle of blood ran into his ear, "That's made of solid metal, and you just go and whack me round the head with it? What kind of mercy is that?"

"What?" Elena frowned confusedly at him, "That wasn't mercy, that just felt good," And she went down on her knees and hugged him. Axel instantly clutched the side of his head, and began to moan,

"Ow, my head, my head! I think I broke it!" He looked up hopefully, "Can I have a hug too?"

"Creep," Elena scowled, "I thought you were gay?"

Axel's mouth dropped open,

"Why? Why does everybody think that?!"

Reno rubbed his head one last time, and stared at his blonde-haired colleague,

"You're not...going to kill me?"

Elena looked bashful,

"Yeah...about that... we didn't realise you had a witness."

Reno stared at her in confusion,

"A witness? For what?"

"Well, you know when we thought you'd deliberately let Axel go? Yeah, um... it wasn't until after the whole...you know...when we tried to kill you...that we spoke to the security guard who was on the door that day. He said he saw the whole thing."

"So that means..?" Reno asked hopefully.

"Tseng went straight to the President and told him everything. The President said that if you ever returned, you could be fully reinstated."

A smile split across Reno's face,

"No way! Really!"

"And on top of that," Elena smiled, "You managed to bring Axel back. Well done!"

"What?" Axel looked horrified. Elena turned her gun on him,

"You don't have your powers in this world, right? So you can't do anything to stop me from taking you in, right?"

Axel was staring at Reno. The look on his face was one of shock, hurt, and most of all, betrayal. Turning to Elena, he grinned through it, and said,

"Nope. There's nothing I can do. I guess I'll just have to come quietly."

Elena pressed her gun into his back,

"My car's just outside the slums. Put your hands on your head and walk slowly. If you move, I'll shoot you."

"Elena-" Reno tried to say, but she cut across him,

"It's quite alright, Reno. You've done your bit for now. Let's get him back to HQ."

Axel turned to Reno, and patted him on the shoulder,

"Bastard."


	16. Chapter 16

Elena couldn't work out what was wrong with Reno. She would have thought he would have been thrilled to be back at the very least, but it looked as if he were the exact opposite. She stole a glance at him from over her computer. It was his first official day back at work, and he hadn't lifted his head up from the desk once.

"Er...Reno?" She called gently. The redhead looked up. From where he had been lying, a large smudge of ink had imprinted itself on his cheek.

"Attractive," She said scathingly, "Is something wrong? You look a bit..." She searched for the right words, "Cut up about something."

Reno shrugged,

"It's nothing."

"It's not anything to do with a certain prisoner is it?" Rude looked up from his paperwork, "I thought you were the one who brought him in. Shouldn't you be glad?"

Reno said nothing, just toyed with a pen on his desk. Elena just sighed,

"Listen; are you angry with us because we were ordered to terminate you? I know it's not something one tends to forgive, but at the time you sounded okay with it."

"S'not that either."

"Well what is it then?"

"I said it's nothing!" Reno snapped, and stood up violently, knocking his chair over backwards, "I'm gonna take a walk."

"You've had your break," Rude frowned.

"I'm taking another one," Reno shoved his hands into his pockets and stalked out of the door, dragging his feet, "I'll be back soon."

Elena opened her mouth to say something, but Rude stopped her,

"Let him go. He's probably just got some stuff on his mind. Remember, he's been through some shit recently, and not just your average shit."

"Define "average shit" for me," Elena grinned playfully.

Reno entered the cell. Axel and slouched on the metal slab once more, glaring at him.

"Er...hi?" Reno kept his distance. Axel grunted.

"Listen," Reno spread his hands out is earnest, "I seriously didn't know Elena was gonna be there. I didn't think she'd take you in. I didn't plan this."

"I've got something for you," Axel reached into his pocket, "I was gonna give it to you before I went back through the portal."

Reno bit his lip, guilt spreading throughout his stomach. That was, at least, until Axel drew his hand out of his pocket, and gave him "The Finger".

"I don't care if you didn't plan it! Because of you, I right back here again!" He snapped, "And you're gonna help me get back out again!"

"Er, Axel," Reno said slowly, something dawning on him, "You do know we left that portal open, right?"

Axel said nothing for a very long time.

"Axel?"

"Don't talk to me."

"You didn't remember, did you?"

"Don't talk to me."

"And I've been forced to put on some stupid act, like I'm all cut up, for the last week."

Axel suddenly looked up. A vein was twitching in his forehead,

"Are you telling me," He said slowly, "That I've been sitting here _for a whole week_ whilst you sat around at your desk, _knowing full well that the portal was open_?"

"I thought you'd remember," Reno said innocently, batting his eyelids.

"NO OF COURSE I DIDN'T BLOODY REMEMBER IT!!!" Axel bellowed, "I wouldn't be here otherwise!"

"Either way," Reno smirked slightly, "Why waste your time yelling at me when you could just be materialising outta here, or whatever it is you do?"

"You're just gonna get done over again for helping me. Like last time."

"Aww, Axel, I didn't know you cared."

Axel scowled,

"I don't much. I just really don't want you to fall into my world again."

"The feeling's mutual," Reno grinned, "But once again, I have come up with an ingenious, brilliant, and amazing plan."

"You've discovered a way to turn your Y chromosome into an X one?"

Reno shot him a nasty look,

"Not quite. I was just thinking. If you and I pretend to have another fight, we might be able to get past the guard again, and-"

Axel advanced on him,

"I've got a better plan. I remember I once said to you that people would notice if I walked around naked."

Reno backed against the wall.

Elena frowned, and stared at Reno's empty desk,

"He's been gone for ages. Where d'you think he would be?"

Rude shrugged,

"Knowing Reno, anywhere."

Both Turks looked up as the door to Tseng's office burst open. Tseng stood in the doorway, his phone still pressed to his ear,

"Don't touch him, wait until we've got done there! Leave everything exactly where it is now!" He shoved the phone into his pocket, "That Axel bastard's escaped again, and Reno..." He trailed off.


	17. Chapter 17

Axel materialised in front of the portal, a grin still on his face. Peering around, he quickly tore the blue suit he'd pulled on over his clothes off, and chucked them into one of the nearby trash cans. Turning, he stared up at the Shin-Ra building, still visible behind the buildings opposite the alley, and grinned.

"Goodbye, Reno." He said, and disappeared through the portal, which shuddered once, and then vanished.


	18. Chapter 18

**This is it, people.**

**The LAST chapter of Seeing Double.**

**Hope you enjoyed it :)**

**I did :)**

**-.-.-**

Rude stared at the scene in the cell, and bit down hard on his cheeks. Tseng, as always, behaved as a leader should, and did nothing. Elena was sobbing with laughter, hanging on Rude's arm, in a failed attempt at keeping herself upright.

His face bright red, Reno scowled up at them,

"Don't. Say. A. Word."

"Do you need a hand there?" Elena was cackling, "If anyone saw you, I'm sure you could be arrested for indecent exposure."

"Shut it!" Reno snapped. Elena elbowed Rude,

"He's smaller than I expected."

That was it for Rude; he collapsed into howls of laughter. Despite his embarrassment, Reno flashed Elena one of his award winning smiles,

"So you've been thinking about me, Elena? When you're alone at night, do you picture me beside you?"

"WH-AA-T?!" Elena shrieked, and stamped down hard on a certain part of Reno's anatomy. The redhead made a sound so high it broke all records and his eyes began to stream.

"What happened?" Tseng asked bluntly.

"She just stamped on my-!"

"Not that!" Tseng snapped, "I mean, what happened to you to get you in this situation?"

Reno looked around him. He had been stripped naked; his hands tied behind his back with a strip from what must have once been his trousers. There were several bruises on his face, and his eye was swollen,

"I don't know," He said miserably, "The last thing I remember is the creep's fist connecting with my face."

"I see," Tseng frowned, and shuddered, "Although, to be honest, I'd rather not. For god's sake man, can't you roll over or something?"

"Er..." Reno blushed even redder, "Actually, no, I can't. Not really. No. Absolutely not."

"Why not?"

"Well...you see..." He trailed off, but looked horrified as Tseng signalled for Rude to roll him over, "Wait, what are you doing? No!"

Silence fell.

"Oh. My. God," Elena's mouth dropped open. Even Rude lifted his glasses. Tseng blinked. On Reno's back, somebody had scrawled in black pen, with an appropriately placed arrow,

**ENTRY FREE OF CHARGE**.

"That's..." Elena said weakly.

"Heinous?" Tseng suggested.

Reno said nothing. Rude looked as if he'd rather not have eyes. Elena was trying not to stare too hard.

"Well," Tseng gave one of his rare smiles, "I'm sure there's other ways of finding love than blatantly selling yourself like this. I'm sure Rude will find you a perfectly nice young SOLDIER to have a relationship with, won't you Rude?"

"I sure will," Rude grinned.

"I hate you all," Reno mumbled, his face pressed into the cell floor, "Leave me alone."

"With pleasure," Tseng nodded, and he gestured for the others to follow him, "Come on. Reno needs to be left alone for a little bit. We'll come back after the daily school tours of the cells have finished."

"What?" Reno gasped as they began to file out of the cell, "No way! Come back! Let me up! Don't leave!" Anger boiled up inside him, "Axel...I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

**-.-.-**

**Well, that's it.**

**It took me about eight months, but I've completed it :)**

**I think I may do a Naruto one next, whaddaya think?**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed and read :)**


	19. Chapter 19 Or is it?

Hi everyone XD

I thought I'd give the next bit a miss because of studies (trying to get to uni blablabla)

But I missed it too much :)

So...

Without further ado...

I have decided...

That writing all suspense-ish like this is stupid.

And I'm going to do a sequel :)


	20. Chapter 20

Okay, the new story is up XD

It's called "Flame Verses Fool"


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